Month: February 2010

When it comes to photo editing and manipulation, Photoshop is undoubtedly the best software you can find for the job. Though it started back in 1987 as a basic graphic app developed by Thomas Knoll, the first version of Photoshop was officially launched at the beginning of 1990 – exactly twenty years ago.

I’m a big fan of this great program (as you can tell by the loads of posts I’ve written about it) so I thought it would be a nice idea to write this post as a celebration of Photoshop’s 20th birthday. I’m sure you’ll be shocked to see how different the first Photoshop looks from the one you have on your computer!

Like I said before, Photoshop started off in 1987 as a very basic graphic app for Mac called Display, created by Thomas Knoll, which could only display images in black and white.

Thomas’s brother, John, was working for Industrial Light and Magic and asked Thomas to work on a enhanced version of this program that could help him process digital images. The idea seemed to work, and in 1988 the two brothers decided to create a commercial photo editing tool based on Display, but using a new name: Photoshop.

Thomas wrote all the code, while John focused on plug-ins. They also managed to reach a deal with Adobe in September 1988, and early in 1990, the first version of Photoshop was launched. Continue reading “Photoshop turns 20”

Next week, Microsoft will unveil its latest mobile operating system at the Mobile World Congress. Windows Mobile 7 presents the company with a chance to gain ground on iPhone and Android. On the other hand, if it’s poorly received it could seal the fate of Windows Mobile, an operating system which has sunk to just 9 percent of the total market share. Of course, most mobile blogs have come up with their own theories about what we can expect from Windows Mobile 7. Some are seemingly credible, while others are quite incredible. I’ve picked out the gossip that I think has the most substance to keep you going until Microsoft reveals all next week.

PPCGeeks has published a comprehensive round-up of the new features of Windows Mobile 7. It stresses that the information is not official, but the “closest information we have heard on actually being real”. Whatever that means. According to this information, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is there will be no multi-tasking, although it says that apps will pause in the background, which is at least a little better than the iPhone can manage. PPC Geeks also reckons that WM7 will not support Flash or Silverlight within the browser, although it claims Silverlight will be supported out of the browser.

All the rumor sites seem to suggest that the new OS will be very focused on media and gaming. PPC Geeks is predicting full integration with Xbox Live, including the ability to purchase games.  Apparently Windows Mobile 7 will use the Zune software to handle music, videos, and photo syncing, which could be a positive step towards challenging the iPhone’s supremacy as the leading MP3 and video phone. With talk of push notifications and support for social networking in the new OS, WM7 could be a great platform for keeping in touch.

Elsewhere, WMExperts has thrown its theories into the mix. It claims that there will be two versions of the platform: a Business Edition and a Media Edition, the latter of which will include support for HD video, a Zune-esque music player, and potentially even streaming TV. The Business Edition will apparently be big on syncing, allowing users to share data across multiple devices through the cloud.

Gizmodo is always keen to throw tidbits onto the rumor mill. It says the SDK will be available in early June, and slates September as a potential release date for the operating system. The post also talks of a new gesture-based input system, which would allow users luxuries such as pinch-zoom, rotation and twisting that aren’t currently possible with Windows Mobile 6.x. Speaking of the previous incarnation of the OS, Gizmodo reckons that WM7 will support apps designed for version 6, although Russian mobile phone guru Eldar Murtazin claims that it won’t.

We’ll be at the Mobile World Congress next week, so we’ll be able to confirm or deny all of these rumors as soon as we see Windows Mobile 7 in action. In the meantime, if you have any ideas about what you think will be in the new version, or what you’d like to see, please let us know.

Because they’re amazing, you might think you never have to think about spring cleaning your Mac, but it’s still a good idea to keep things in order. The second Tuesday of February is Clean Out Your Computer Day, so today’s a good day to start!

There are some myths about optimizing your system, and perhaps the most damaging is that of cache cleaning. Tools like Cache Out X will find and ‘clean’ your various caches, some of which may look pretty big. While that may save you disk space for a few moments, it’s a bad idea. Cache files in OSX are created precisely to speed up performance, so if you delete them, the system will have to recreate them, actually slowing you down!

That’s not to say there aren’t things you can do, so here’s some good advice:

1: If your browser is slow, perhaps it’s time to delete its history, cache and cookies? A year’s worth of browsing with a saved history and cache will seriously decrease efficiency. Instead of relying on the history, bookmark your favorite sites, then hit clean (File>Delete Cache in Safari, Tools>Clear Recent History in Firefox).

2: If you’re running any OSX up to 10.5 (Leopard), and you turn off your Mac at night, there are some scripts that perform clean up tasks automatically in the early hour of the morning – they clear up any unnecessary log files and system cache. Left in sleep mode, they’ll run when you wake up the computer but if you turn off your Mac they won’t. You can’t do any harm by running these scripts anyway, and doing so is really simple:

Open Terminal (look in Applications>Utilities) and enter the following text exactly: sudo periodic daily weekly monthly. You’ll then be asked for your system password – enter it, and hit return. You won’t see anything happening, but it will finish when the blinking prompt reappears.

3: Run Disk Utility. Found in Applications>Utilities again, this will just make sure your directories are in order, and keep things running smoothly. It’s easy to use – click on your Hard drive in the Disk Utility window, then click Verify Disk, wait for the process to finish the click Repair. Repeat for Verify Disk Permissions. It may not speed your system up, but it won’t do any harm.

4: Clean out your folders. Over time it’s easy to let your pictures, documents and downloads folders get messy. Take time every month to clear them out. It makes finding things easier, and will free up some hard drive space. Go through your applications folder and delete apps you never use – they’re a waste of space!

Do you have any other cleaning routines?

I guess it was Nintendo who invented ice levels in platformers, and since then it’s become a video game standard. Whatever you’re playing, you can bet at some point you’ll be asked to continue what you have been doing for the last few hours, but on slippery surfaces. I’m not a fan, possibly with the exception of the snowy levels in Mario 64.

I Hate Ice Levels is an ode to everything we dislike about these staple levels. It’s unbelievably tricky – I got cramps in my fingers after ten minutes playing! It’s meant to be a satire of ice levels, and as such it works well. It’s also a tough challenge for anyone who thinks they’ve got skills when it comes to platforming. Play it here – requires Flash.